Sacred Victims: Fifty Years of Data on Victim Race and Sex as Predictors of Execution
Sacred Victims: Fifty Years of Data on Victim Race and Sex as Predictors of Execution In this essay, we update and expand David Baldus’s famous study of Georgia homicides in…
The Brady Database
The Brady Database The Supreme Court’s landmark ruling in Brady v. Maryland turns sixty this year. The Brady doctrine, which requires the government to disclose favorable and material evidence to…
Rethinking the “No-Duty Rule: How DeShaney Can Be Reformed to Enable Objective, Coherent Analysis and Protection for More Victims of Crime
Rethinking the "No-Duty Rule: How DeShaney Can Be Reformed to Enable Objective, Coherent Analysis and Protection for More Victims of Crime “Failure-to-protect” cases, situations in which crime victims do not…
“The Clearest Proof”: Constitutional Concerns Surrounding the Illinois Sexually Violent Persons Commitment Act
"The Clearest Proof": Constitutional Concerns Surrounding the Illinois Sexually Violent Persons Commitment Act The Illinois General Assembly enacted the Sexually Violent Persons Commitment Act (SVPCA) in 1998, allowing the State…
On “Vague Latin Phrase” and Criminal Confessions: Corpus Delicti, Trustworthiness, and Corroboration, and the Federal Rules of Evidence
On "Vague Latin Phrase" and Criminal Confessions: Corpus Delicti, Trustworthiness, and Corroboration, and the Federal Rules of Evidence The corpus delicti rule—prohibiting conviction of a crime based solely on a…
Past, Prologue, and Constitutional Limits on Criminal Penalties
Past, Prologue, and Constitutional Limits on Criminal Penalties Most criminal prosecutions occur at a level that is both neglected by many legal scholars and central to the lives of most…
Rethinking the Balance of Interests in Non-Exculpatory Defenses
Rethinking the Balance of Interests in Non-Exculpatory Defenses Most criminal law defenses serve the criminal law’s goal of shielding blameless defendants from liability. Justification defenses, such as self- defense and…
Extraterritorial State Criminal Law, Post-Dobbs
Extraterritorial State Criminal Law, Post-Dobbs Like the federal government, states can apply their laws to people beyond their borders. Statutes can reach out-of-state conduct, such as fraud, that has effects…
The Rule of Lenity as a Disruptor
The Rule of Lenity as a Disruptor This article discusses the application of the rule of lenity in the American legal system. Although this constitutes a substantial element of criminal…
Forbidden Purposes: A New Path for Limiting Criminalization
Forbidden Purposes: A New Path for Limiting Criminalization Activists and scholars have often complained that the American criminal justice system makes choices about criminalization and sentences based on nefarious reasons.…
Fair Notice and Criminalizing Abortions
Fair Notice and Criminalizing Abortions The principle of legality requires that individuals receive “fair notice” of conduct that is criminal. Courts enforce this fair notice requirement through various interpretive principles…
What If Criminal Lawmaking Becomes Trustworthy?
What If Criminal Lawmaking Becomes Trustworthy? One common theoretical perspective posits that courts should assume a counter-majoritarian role in criminal law because the political process systematically disfavors the interests of…